BMW Asian Open History

The BMW Asian Open is a fairly recent addition to the European Tour, with the first tournament having been played in 2002. 2008 marks the seventh BMW Asian Open tournament, which has yet to witness a repeat champion. Visit our BMW Asian Open winners page for details of all previous winners of the tournament.

For the first two years of its existence, the BMW Asian Open was played in Taiwan â€“ at the Westin Resort in 2002 and the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club in 2003.

In 2004, however, the tournament moved to the majestic Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club, nestled in the Pudong district of Shanghai in the Peopleâ€™s Republic of China.

BMW Asian Open history is remarkable in that it represents the first ever tri-sanctioned Chinese Golf Association, Asian Tour and European Tour event to be played in China. When it moved to the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club in 2004, the BMW Asian Open also became the first European Tour event to be held on the Chinese mainland.

In 2005, South Africaâ€™s Ernie Els made BMW Asian Open history when he won the tournament by 13 shots, in large part thanks to a record-breaking round of 62.

This was not only the biggest winning margin of the 2005 European Tour season, but also the second biggest in European Tour history. Only Tiger Woodsâ€™ 15-shot victory at the 2000 US Open Championship represented a larger winning margin.

The BMW Asian Open course offers excellent putting surfaces on large, undulating greens, but with some narrow fairways of only 20 to 30 yards favouring accurate drivers.

In 2007, the top Asian finisher was Koreaâ€™s Sung Lee, who claimed a share of fifth place along with the 2005 winner Ernie Els and fellow South African Richard Sterne, at 6-under-par.